Technology usage, intellectual capital, firm performance and employee satisfaction: the accountants' idea

Purpose: The paper proposes a conceptual integration between two variables, both considered as capable of affecting public firm performance: technology and intellectual capital. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis is performed by testing a structural equation model (SEM) which allows to measure simultaneously a plurality of variables, highlighting all the possible connections. Data is collected by administering more than 500 paper questionnaires to accountants working within Local Health Firms of Naples and Salerno. Findings: The study seems to align with the considerations according to which intellectual capital expressed through its three dimensions – relational capital, human capital and organizational capital – exert a positive influence on perceived performance of healthcare firms, ultimately impacting on the Employees' Satisfaction. Research limitations/implications: The study acts as a useful guide from a managerial point of view, because it may support firm decision-making. In fact, public sector managers can leverage an instrument capable of activating functional mechanisms to improve firm performance. Originality/value: The work allows overcoming the literature gap due to the fact that, although there is a wide recognition of the potential of technology and intellectual capital, there are no studies that synergistically integrate both the aspects in the attempt to understand their value in terms of influence on the performance of public firms, on the one hand, and on employees' satisfaction, on the other. In this vein, the work, in an attempt to provide further scientific support to the link between technology and intellectual capital, is a tool capable of highlighting how this link positively impacts on company performance and employee satisfaction.